The present invention relates in general to a television monitor and control apparatus. The apparatus of this invention may be embodied as a self-contained unit associated with the television set or may be integrated into the television set. The control in accordance with the invention is manually settable and preferably automatically repeatable. This control is twofold including a settable control for determining the sub-periods of availability of the use of the television set during say a 24-hour period, and a second settable control for determining the total accumulated daily use of the television set to limit such use over a given period.
The widespread use of television has caused concern with regard to the effects of excessive use of television by children due to the passivity of watching the television and also due to the specific content of television programs such as an excessive amount of violence now common in television watching. This problem is exacerbated by the change in the nature of the family to a family wherein both parents may be working or where there is a single parent family thus causing increased isolation of children and excessive watching of television. Many homes have the availability of a number of television sets. The attempt of parents to control television watching by setting reasonable limits has become more difficult and the limitations on television viewing have become a source of considerable friction within the family. As a result, the phenomenon of TV viewing by children and the effects on the children have become the subject of many studies by the government and other agencies.
The television monitor and control apparatus of this invention is a solution to this problem by providing an aid to the parents in setting limits within which the child is free to use the television set. With the apparatus of this invention the child is free to exercise his or her responsibility by selecting programs and budgeting his or her time within the constraints set by the parents or arrived at by mutual discussion. Also, in accordance with the invention the limits that are set may be changed at any time quite readily. Also, in accordance with the invention, once the limits have been set and locked in the apparatus, these set limits are automatic and thus the parents no longer have the job of controlling the child's TV viewing time thus reducing friction and alleviating the waste of time usually involved in the repetitive and often emotionally charged interactions between parents and children.
The prior art shows devices for providing control of television sets. See for example, the Noiles U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,029 which teaches the use of an accumulator alone for limiting total use within a period of time such as within a 24-hour interval. This device, however, permits viewing at virtually any hour as long as the accumulated time has not been reached. This device thus does not limit the child's viewing to only prescribed intervals of the day.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a control that both limits the total viewing time within a period and also restricts viewing to certain intervals within the period.